Palin Backed Alaska Independence and Called Shallow By Woman Claiming To Be the Real Miss Congeniality

It turns out that that Sarah Palin’s backing of Patrick Buchanan for president in 1999 was not the most extreme case of her backing a far right third party. Members of the Alaska Independence Party are stating that Palin used to be a member of the group. Their platform is listed on their web site and is preceded by this quotation:

“The problem with you John Birchers’ is that you are too damn liberal!”
~ Joseph Vogler, Founder Alaskan Independence Party

Now that we find how little effort John McCain put into vetting his running mate, who knows what other surprises might come out. While he probably did want a candidate who would appease the religious right, I wonder if he had any idea how far to the right Palin is, even by modern Republican standards.

After finding that Palin both backed Patrick Buchanan and a group which thought that the Birchers were too liberal, it is no longer much of a shock to find there is even controversy as to whether she really won the Miss Congeniality award. Amy Gwin claims she really won the award. She also stated,  “I wouldn’t support her if she was my very best friend. I support Obama and don’t share any of her  politics. She’s very shallow.”

Update: AIP chairwoman retracts statement that Palin was a member, but Palin’s views and ties to right wing extremism remain a concern.

Update II: A reader has written in stating that Palin won the Miss Congeniality Award in the Miss Alaska pageant while Gwin won the title in the local Wasilla pageant. The story I linked to has also removed mention of a controversy as to the Miss Congeniality award. It appears that this “controversy” has been resolved.

17 Comments

  1. 1
    Dave Dragon says:

    More nails in McC’s election coffin.  LOL

    Dave

  2. 2
    john berkhoudt says:

    It must be easy enough to track the records of who really ‘won’ the “Miss Congeniality” award. I doubt the Iranians will be wowed by the answer, but I’d like to know. Who knows, those records may had been previously altered by McC’s folks….

  3. 3
    Jerry says:

    Both of the main tracking polls have Obama shooting ahead today. OK, maybe not quite “shooting ahead”; more like “starting to make his move”. Point being that McCain’s selection of Palin appears to have provided the “2” as in “1 – 2 punch”.
    The Clintons (finally, mostly) did their part, and that was the wind-up to Obama’s speech, which was the number “1” punch.
    When McCain drove hard right with Palin (so far right he might’ve just driven into a swamp) he provided the second punch. It clarified for people; McCain is far right, making Obama look more centrist.
    This is of course excellent news. I’m sure we’ve all been waiting for this move in the polls. Now that it’s come, it’s clear to me that the reason Obama wasn’t sharing fully in the overall popularity of the Dem Party has been the delusion by many that McCain was not as far right-wing as the rest of the Republican Party. That’s been shot down by McCain himself. As Kerry pointed out over the weekend; McCain is no maverick; he’s a prisoner of the right wing extremists. And he just proved it.
    One more point. McCain is famous for his love of gambling (not smart gambling like poker, but dumb gambling like roulette). One of his memories from his book has to do with his father telling him that “the world isn’t run by analysts, it’s run by the gamblers” (paraphrasing). This has been McCain’s underlying weakness all along. I was just holding my breath, hoping that he would come up “craps” before he became president and gambled with the entire world. I believe we now know the answer.

  4. 4
    andrew brennan says:

    This proves democrats are realy the true lovers of America. The right wing is only interisted in their agenda and getting involved in every aspect of our lives. The only person alive or dead that is more to the right than Sarah Palin may be Hitler. Ms Palin I suggest you go home and take care of your new born infant that will need your constant support if it to develope its potential and hopefully be their to guide your other children, they need a  mom in the family not  not a V.P. 

  5. 5
    dlc says:

    Palin has been a regisered Republican since 1982.  When she was mayor this group can to her town and as a mayor she met with them.
     

  6. 6
    Zac says:

    What happened to “Country First”?

  7. 7
    Ron Chusid says:

    I’m holding off to see what happens after the Republican convention. Before Palin I expected McCain to get a bounce to match Obama’s but now this isn’t so certain.

    Regardless of where they stand in the polls this week, Palin provides further grounds to campaign against McCain’s lack of judgment in the coming weeks.

  8. 8
    Ron Chusid says:

    Andrew,

    While I have plenty of areas of disagreement with her (as noted in previous posts) there are plenty of people to the right of Palin short of Hitler. It is disturbing that she now is being shown to have had associations with them, with the degree of her support for their causes not yet certain.

    It is her decision as to whether to run for VP or to stay home and take care of her child. It is our decision to vote on whether she and McCain deserve to be elected (based upon questions about their competence, integrity, and views on the issues, not based upon personal family matters).

  9. 9
    Ron Chusid says:

    dlc,

    Palin sure seems to have met with a lot of extremists, from Pat Buchanan to this group. Funny how Obama is repeatedly attacked for even trivial associations with left wing extremists, while the right can overlook all of Palin’s associations with those on the far right.

    While there is room to question the degree to which Palin really supported these people on the extreme right, her own extreme right wing views have been demonstrated, as I’ve noted in several previous posts.

  10. 10
    Concerned Reader says:

    This new information about Palin sickens me. It sickens me that she claims to be a christian as I am and yet there is so much controversy around her. The light must be shone on her to reveal her secrets. There is a definite double standard going on here. Obama camp: please hit hard with the truth about this woman once and for all so everyone can see what she is. I know you want to be gentle but this is no time to gentle. This woman could be our next president. We need Obama/Biden to lead this country into a new truthful direction.

  11. 11
    Owen Doak says:

    Secession!  We in the Land of Lincoln now how to deal with that!

    Clearly this proves John McCain does not have the judgement to be president.  How can we afford to hire a 72for the hardesst job in the world? We can’t!  And like “W” he does not do his homework!!  Did he rely on his “gut” to make this impulsive decision? 

    Wow.  Cannot be trusted with power.  The Democrats are clearly the “grown up” party with wisdom and experience.

  12. 12
    Johnny Gilbert says:

    Did anyone there were only two black men shown on the RNC’s video? One was a slave on his knees in chains & the other was Dr. King in jail with numbers across his chest. Is this all the Rep.’s can say about black men in America; that we’ve evolved from slaves to prisoners?

  13. 13
    Brian Sims says:

    Whoa on the Miss Congeniality question. Palin won Miss Congeniality in the Miss Alaska contest, where she placed second overall. Gwin won Miss Congeniality in the Miss Wasilla contest, which was won by Palin. This is much ado about nothing!!!

  14. 14
    Ron Chusid says:

    Yes, that was already posted a couple days ago in the updates to the original post.

  15. 15
    Ruth M says:

    Sarah Palin needs to be shown for the liar that she is. Why is it that she and McCain continue to tell the same lies (bridge to nowhere, firing the chef, etc) and think that the American public is not going to notice. I know that the Republican party thinks that Americans are stupid and that we don’t really listen. John McCain and the Republican machine are again trying to instill fear into this campaign by implying that only a Republican in the White House can keep us safe. Hey folks, this catastrophe happened on the Republican’s watch!!!!

  16. 16
    Ron Chusid says:

    Ruth,

    One of two things will happen. People will continue to listen to Republicans without paying attention to the evidence they are lying, and we will have four more years of the same. Hopefully they will get over the excitement of this new “celebrity” vp candidate and vote rationally based upon the facts.

  17. 17
    Aisley says:

    “Every country has the government they deserve” 
    Nicola de Machiavelli 

    It is so scary to think that there’s people out there that will wtill walk the line of the party, even when the party has taken the country to the gutter and they are suffering the consecuences.  How stupid does someone has to be to support someone that talks about being a “maverick” and “standing for change” when he’s a member of the party that has destroyed the country?  Do they need a list?  OK, here it goes:

    Economy: in vegetative state.
    Education:  no child was left behind because no child went anywhere with the education given in this country.
    Healthcare: How many republican moron voters need to be reminded that they lost theirr health insurance when their jobs were sent to India?
    Jobs:  Uh, you don’t have one.

    Did you republican knuckleheads know that McCain has been a member of the Senate committee in charge of overseeing the wall street firms that had died?  Do you still think that if he didn’t do what he was supposed to then, he’s going to do it now?  Yes? Shut, your stupider than I thought.

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